The nightmare isn’t just losing Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s keeping Doc Rivers. And if current trends hold up, it's safe to say the nightmare is here. Keeping Rivers for another season when it seemed so likely they would let him go may secure the downfall of the Milwaukee Bucks for another year in a row, before next season even starts.
As things stand with the Bucks, their next steps are really quite simple. If Giannis Antetokounmpo decides to stay, you're officially still in win-now mode, no matter how improbable that goal might seem. And if winning is the goal, you do everything in your power to put yourself in a position where that is more possible than before.
That might start with coaching.
The Milwaukee Bucks had a clean exit ramp. After another first-round collapse, after weeks of baffling lineup decisions and an all-too-familiar lack of urgency, they had every reason to move on from Doc Rivers. It's a move that would have determined the direction of the entire postseason for them.
But they didn’t.
This is where we are now. You have a Bucks team still clinging to contention, still centered around Giannis Antetokounmpo, but locked into a coach who has shown no signs of being the one to lead them there.
Giannis decides your direction, but Doc Rivers drags it down
Let’s not overcomplicate what comes next for Milwaukee. If Giannis stays — and right now, there’s no public indication that he’s forcing his way out — you’re still in win-now mode. Full stop. That’s the job. Not asset collection. Not development. Not vibes. Wins.
And if winning is the mandate, then why double down on a coach who couldn’t maximize a roster with three All-Stars and a former Sixth Man of the Year finalist?
After the disaster that was Milwaukee's first-round series against the Pacers, it's probably not a reach anymore to say that Doc Rivers' flaws as a coach have been thoroughly exposed this season (if they weren't already).
Let's go back to when he first arrived in town. Doc Rivers inherited a team with a 30-13 record and finished 49-33. He lost 11 of his first 16 games. He oversaw one of the worst defense-to-offense collapses in franchise history. And in the playoffs, he got completely outcoached by a coaching staff that he had mostly bested throughout the regular season.
This year, it was much of the same. The Bucks had concepts of a plan but no real identity on either end of the floor. The defense relied too much on the individual talents of Giannis Antetokounmpo to keep the Bucks afloat but did little to address the lack of perimeter defense. On offense, it was a your-turn-my-turn seesaw affair between Giannis and Damian Lillard. Most of the scoring outside of the two came off opportunities that they still created.
In short, his schemes were never sustainable and never compatible with winning basketball today. His ceiling is clear, and it is obvious he is not the coach to lead this team going forward unless they want to settle for mediocrity.
And after having two years of sample size, what exactly is the upside here for Milwaukee?
This wasn’t a team that needed revolutionary tactics. They needed baseline competence — some stability, some accountability, some functional defense. Instead, Rivers made the Milwaukee Bucks smaller, slower and less adaptable.
He buried Andre Jackson Jr., their one true athletic wing. He insisted on the Brook Lopez–Bobby Portis pairing even when the numbers were screaming to stop. He was late to Jericho Sims, late to AJ Green, and, for that matter, late to any lineup that actually worked.
The same issues that haunted his tenures in Los Angeles and Philadelphia followed him to Milwaukee: slow adjustments, stagnant offenses and a poor feel for the moment. And in the postseason? A blown lead in Game 5 with their season on the line was just the latest entry in a decades-long resume of collapses.
This was the Bucks' chance to reset. Instead, they’re running it back
That’s the most frustrating part. This offseason gave Milwaukee a window. A chance to pivot, recalibrate and give Giannis Antetokounmpo, who remains one of the three best players on the planet, a real shot at another title.
They could have hired a modern tactician like Kenny Atkinson. They still could do that this offseason with Michael Malone and Taylor Jenkins still job-hunting. They could have taken a risk on fresh ideas. Instead, they chose to run back the same broken approach that had already cost them a season. This season, it's less surprising given the pattern they've shown as of late.
There is no more time to waste. Giannis isn’t waiting forever. Damian Lillard's services are going to be missed for a whole season or close to it. And you’re telling fans this is the guy to steer the ship?
Once upon a time, there was a version of this story where the Bucks cut bait, recalibrated and head into next season with a new coach, a clear plan and a belief that their window is still open. Instead, they’re sending a different message: we’re okay with what just happened. This is just who we are now.
And that’s what’s so corrosive for NBA franchises stuck in mediocrity.
Mediocrity isn’t always loud. Sometimes it looks like a stability that gives way to complacency. But for Milwaukee, keeping Doc Rivers isn’t holding steady — it’s slipping deeper into irrelevance. One passive offseason at a time.
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